Hoisting chain



w. P. mcKARD.-

HolsTlNG CHAIN. APF'LICATIDN FILED OCT. 20,'1921.

PatentedAug. 29, 1922.

'Era-..1

flbtowmo rjATENr WARREN IP. RICKARID, `O'l KIPLYMOUTI-, MASSACHUSETTS.

HOISTING CHAIN.

To all'wtom 25 may concern.'

Be it known that I, WARREN P. Riemen, a citizen of the United States, residing at Plymouth, in the county of Plymouth and State' of Massachusetts, have `invented lcertain new and useful lmprovements in Hoisting Chains; and l do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersy skilled'in the art towhicli it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improved hoisting chain which is especially, but notl necessarily,designed for use on fire-fightingl ported on the Wheeled support.

Practical experience with the patented type of hoisting chain or flexible rack bar has continuously brought out the fact that it is not desirable in all instancesin view of the fact that the rack members themselves are too long and the chain does not conform properly to the periphery of the drum, theirack bars are'not desirable from the manufacturers viewpoint and the pivot connection is not sufficiently strong to resist the strain placed thereon and frequent breakage results.

In view of the foregoing circumstances, l have devised a flexible hoisting chain to take the place of the one above discussed, the

' improved chain being composed of comparatively short links which have recesses formed at one of their ends into which the comparatively loiig apertured extensions of tl e adjacent links extend and are confined to effectively connectfthe links together and prevent relative side movements thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved hoisting chain which will conform effectively to the periphery of the drum, the same being composed of links having teeth in the form of transversely disposed spaced pins which are capable of being quickly replaced in case of breakage.

ther objects and advantages ofthe invention will be apparent during the course of the following description. Y i

. In the accompanying drawings forming a part' of thisspecification and in which like numerals,A are employed to designate ylike Figure e is a side elevational view ofY one of the links. v Figure 5 is atop plan view thereof. Figure 6 is an enlarged cross section taken 'through one of the links substantially on the plane of the line 6-6 of F ig. '3. v

Referring to the drawings, itwill be seen that the numeral l2 designates a wheel supported platform on which a vertically extensible standard 25 is mounted, the same being composed of the telescopically engaged sections 26. It is to be stated here that although it is not shown in this drawing, it is understood that these sections are successively raised by the means shown and described-in the above referred to patent and that the ladder sections are connected therewithin the same way vas set forth in said patent. The improved flexible rack bail or hoisting means which is generally indicated by the numeral 28 is shown partially wound on the rotary drum 29 which is supported from the platform in any desired way and is movable transversely across the same by the screw shaft 43 so as to insure proper winding and unwinding of the chain. Also supported on the underface of the platform in a position for co-operation with therlinks of the chain is a relatively large gear 8O driven by a pinion 32.

As previously indicated, the invention resides in the construction of the idexible hoisting chain 28 which is a decided improvement on the corresponding element of my patented device as will be seen from glancing at the drawings and comparing the irnproveduchain with the one disclosed in my l Specicatioiiof Letters Patent. Patented' Aug. 29, 1922. Appiicann sied october 2o, 192i. `sei-iai No. 509,153.

which are pivotally connected together and are Wound on the periphery of thedrum 29 so as to permit them to effectively conform to the latter, the endmost link being rigidly connected to thev drum as indicated at 33,.

'Although the links 33 can be constructed otherwise, it Will be seen by carefully eX- amining the enlarged cross sectional view` in Fig. 6 that each one substantially H- shaped in cross section to form upper and lower channels .34 and 35 respectively. A.

substantially rectangular yblock 36 is fit-tedV v minates short of the other lend of the link to provide ya space yfor reception of ltheextended rend of .the block ,of the adjoining or adjacent link. Theextended end 38 of the block is formed With an aperturev and the sides of the channel 34 [between Which this extension is received are `formed Withopenings which register With the .opening in said extension and a pivot pin is passed 'through these openings to pivotally connect the links together and permit ffree relative movement thereof. By `disposing Athe eX- tended end of the block Svbetween the side Walls of the upper channel, it is obvious that relative sidev movements of the links is y oyerconie yas much :as possible. Conse quently, Ietieotive operation of the improved chain is thus insured as relative side movements of the rack members ofmy patented chain is ldisadvantageous. A plurality of pins 39 are arranged transversely across the channel 35 and lconnected with the side Walls of .the latterv and are spaced `from the bottom thereof and constitute teeth for engagement with the .corresponding elements of the gear 30. In my patented links, the teeth are integral and are not easily repaired. However, by forming the teeth from pins as above indicated, it is possible to quickly and eas-ily remove and replace ,one of the pins, oase it becomes broken. j

Inasmuch as the operation of the fire fighting apparatus has been clearly set forth in detail in theabove named patent and as the 'features ot this invention reside only Athe Vvconstruction of the flexible hoisting means which is especially designed for use in connection with such apparatus, it is thought unnecessary to enter a description ot' the .operation in this application. Furthermore, as the speciiic construction of the links for formingthe chain has been clearly set forth and Aas the advantages have been fully indicated, it is thought unnecessary to enter Vinto .a more detailed description.

Thilo I have shown and described `my improved hoisting means for .use .inl `connection With a `particular kind of an apparatus, I, of course, wish it to be understood that it is not to be restricted to this use because it is capable of :being used on various other types of machines.

Since probably the best results ,may be obtained with the construction and arrange ment herein shown and described, this is taken as the preferred embodiment Yof the invention. However, I Wish it to be yninderstood that minor changes ,coming within the `scope of v` the invention as claimed may be resorted to if desired.

I claim:

A flexible hoisting `chain composed of a plurality .of relatively short links which are H-shaped in cross section to provide channels., a plurality of transversely disposed pins arranged in yone of said channels `and connected to the side Walls thereof to form teeth for co-operation with the 'teeth `of a gear or the like, and .blocks `arranged in the remaining channel, one end of each of the blocks `extending beyond one end of the respective link and being apertured,the remaining end of said block terminating short of the opposite end of the link and forming a space'in yWhich ,the extended .end or' the block of the adjoining link is received.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. i

WARREN P. RICKARD. 

